A hat-trick of penalties condemned King’s Lynn to their first league defeat since September.

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An eventful match also saw three red cards, with the Linnets finishing with nine men as their Evo-Stik Division One South title hopes suffered a setback.

After a goalless first period, Sutton took the lead through Louis Keenan’s spot-kick. A stunning strike from Stephen Spriggs levelled the scores, but Lynn were only on terms for five minutes. Keenan held his nerve to convert two more penalties and the Linnets’ 14-match unbeaten run in all competitions was ended.

They were forced to withstand heavy pressure for the opening 25 minutes as the hosts pinned them in their own half on the artificial surface at Coles Lane.

Sutton wasted a chance to open the scoring in the 22nd minute when Jamie Sheldon’s high ball was nodded past the advancing Danny Gay by Kristian Ramsey-Dickson but Phil Gulliver was covering on the line.

The game changed in the 26th minute when a long ball from the back caught out the Sutton defence and goalkeeper Lee Evans charged towards the edge of his box and clattered Sam Mulready.

Evans was given his marching orders and Sutton had to sacrifice Sheldon as back-up goalkeeper Jake Bedford went on.

Bedford’s first touch of the ball was to keep out Jason Turner’s penalty with a fine dive to his right.

Lynn put the disappointment behind them and began to make their extra man count.

Spriggs hit the wall with a free-kick after Philip Male caught Jamie Thurlbourne and was cautioned. At the other end Gulliver was also booked for a challenge on Luke Chapman.

The Linnets were reduced to 10 men and found themselves behind in the 51st minute. A long clearance from Bedford reached Chapman, who held off the attention of two defenders before skipper Richard Bunting brought him down as he shaped to shoot. Bunting was dismissed and Keenan made no mistake from the spot to give Sutton the lead.

Spriggs then silenced the home fans with a surging run and an unstoppable shot into the top right corner from 30 yards.

But Lynn’s joy was short-lived as Dan Quigley was penalised for handball in the box after 72 minutes. Keenan was once again successful from the spot as Sutton regained their advantage.

Things worsened in the 83rd minute when Gulliver tripped Ryan Simmonds, resulting in a third penalty and a second yellow card for the defender. Keenan emphatically dispatched the penalty into the top left corner to complete a disappointing night for Gary Setchell’s men.